Clovelly and Camelot

22nd May - Wednesday

View from the start of the track down the cliff to Clovelly 

Look - no coat! 

Mmmm, think about it! 

Enjoying the sights 

Express delivery 

The tide is out again 

The street actually goes under the kitchen and lounge room 

Getting wet 

The lower section of the village 

Will the knees survive? 

Clovelly "beach" 

The breakwater 

View from the Port Isaac car park - very exciting 

Modern day Camelot 

Olden days Camelot 

Entrance island to Camelot 

Old post office - note the roof line! 

Rear of old post office

Happy birthday, Cameron.


After another leisurely breakfast, with the best bacon in England and Wales (so I have been reliably informed!), the sun was actually shining as we headed north to Devon and the village of Clovelly. We did have a short detour into Bude in order to find an ATM; we even found one with space to park nearby. Not sure what the double yellow lines mean – no one else seems to worry about them!

Clovelly is a very, very old fishing village literally cut into the side of a BIG cliff – and the car park is at the top of said cliff. Before paying our entrance fee and heading downhill, the appropriate enquiries were made as to the available of transport back up the cliff! The sea was sparkling in the sunshine (and the locals were out in their shorts and t-shirts) as we headed down the steep, cobbled pathway, which became steeper, with steps, the further we progressed. Once we entered the village, we were able to enter a number of the old buildings, such as the Methodist Church, a fisherman’s cottage and Charles Kingsley’s cottage. Of course, there were numerous tea rooms and souvenir shops as well, all hoping for the tourist pound. Our contribution to the economy was only for two freshly caught crab sandwiches and two ice creams. We noticed a number of sleds outside the shops – these are used to transport goods down the hill and are pulled by hand. After arriving at the beach and seeing the large, round stones, it was apparent where the cobbled stones were sourced from. The guide pamphlet suggested a short walk along the “beach” to the waterfall, so we decided to risk our ankles and view the waterfall. We can now say we have seen the waterfall at Clovelly. After sitting on the breakwater, along with all the other tourists, to eat our crab sandwiches (the ice creams had long disappeared) and look at the harbour without any water, it didn’t take long to find the Landrover transport to return to the top. Clovelly was a very pretty village and well worth a visit.

As the weather was so good, and the sun still shining, we made the big mistake of deciding to visit Port Isaacs, aka Port Wenn of Doc Martin fame. Every other tourist in Cornwall obviously had the same idea! After driving around the two small car parks, to much muttering, we thought it would be a good idea to return first thing tomorrow morning, regardless of the weather! Tintagel, the supposedly site of King Arthur’s Camelot, was only a short distance away – and there weren’t as many cars competing for car parking spaces. We followed the signs to the headland where the castle was supposed to be, but came across a hotel named Camelot. Given the number of Bentley and Aston Martin cars parked outside the front door, it would probably cost a king’s ransom to stay there. Not to be deterred, we continued around the corner of the hotel and there was the island with the ruins of Arthur’s castle! We walked back to the village, which seemed to be full of tea rooms, pubs, Cornish pasty shops and junky King Arthur souvenirs. However, the old post office was very intriguing, with its wibbly wobbly roof – and our National Trust pass allowed us free entry.

Whilst we didn’t quite achieve today what we had hoped to, it was a very enjoyable day – and Doris did manage to find us some narrow lanes with hedges that are definitely becoming higher.